TOPIC IDEAS

·         Women in WW2

o   How did the average women’s life change during WW2?

o   I am writing about the role of women changing in America during World War 2

 

 

·         Wounded Knee Massacre

o   What happened during the Wounded Knee Massacre? Why?

o   What were the effects of this massacre?

o   I am writing about the role of Wounded Knee Massacre in America during the late 1800’s.

 

·         Abraham and the 13^th Amendment

o   How did Lincoln convince the Northern soldiers and people to lay aside their personal interests and make sacrifices to free slaves?

o   I am writing about the role of Abraham Lincoln in the signing of the 13^th Amendment during the civil war.

 

INTERPRETATION OF THE BURNING OF WASHINGTON, DC

After reading my primary source my interpretation is that the primary source gives us information from a British perspective of the burning of Washington, DC.  It tells us a little about how the British were feeling during this event, and what buildings they burned. The most important historical information given to us is the information about the capitol building, and the surrounding buildings related to government, being burned. Moreover, I believe that my primary source is creditable because of the information similar information found in my secondary source.

My thesis agrees with the secondary source, because the information found in it backs up the information found in my primary source. They both state that the same buildings were burned. The British burned the capitol building and several other surrounding buildings relating to government. Furthermore, the secondary source proves that I was right about the creditability of the primary source. One of my secondary sources, a book titled, “The Dawn’s Early Light” by Walter Lord, mentions that the British soldiers offered parley to the Americans but no one answered, and shortly afterward they were ambushed from a house. Therefore, they fired at the house and burned it. Also, my primary source is a journal entry from a British soldier, thus I find it hard to believe that he would writing in his journal. Plus, he was not writing his account for anyone else but himself.

Evidence that I found in my secondary source was that the information was similar to my primary source. Both sources talk about how the attack occurred in the evening on August 24, 1814. It was mentioned that the city was pretty much deserted and that most of the people including the president’s wife had fled before troops arrived.  Both sources describe how they found food spread out on the table at the president’s house and that the soldiers ate the meal before burning the house. They also set fire to the Capitol, the Senate House, the Treasury building, the War Department building, Navy building, and other buildings. Additionally, I believe that my thesis is correct, because both sources mainly talk about how the British burned the capitol building and other surrounding government buildings.

Source:

          Lord, Walter. The Dawn's Early Light. New York: Norton, 1972. Print.

          Greenblatt, Miriam. The War of 1812. New York, NY: Facts on File, 2003. Print.

INVESTIGATING THE BURNING OF WASHINGTON, DC

While reading my primary source and investigating it I started thinking of questions such as, is this soldier telling the truth about why Britain came to burn the capital of the United States, and what did the British army burn at the capital. The primary source says that a British soldier named Gleig believed that the British army was coming to the capital to negotiate a truce with America and fell into an ambush. This ambush, which the British found unjustifiable, was the reason that they burned the capital. This was interesting because after reading other accounts of the burning of the capital, I found that most people believed that Britain planed to burn the capital all along in order to destroy America’s fighting spirit, insuring Britain’s victory. Additionally, there are not many accounts of what was actually burned during the British attack. I would like to find out what parts of the capital was burned.

My prior knowledge of this topic is very little when it comes to the war of 1812. I actually choose this topic in order to learn more about it. I did know that the war of 1812 was started because Britain kept interfering with America even after America gained independence from Britain. Also, I knew that the capital of the United States was targeted and burned but I did not know the details of this event. It is interesting that not very many people knew about the war of 1812 or the battles that took place during this war.

The secondary source that I found gives the date that the attack took place and the time of day that the attack occurred. On August 24, 1814 the British started to attack the Bladensburg Bridge that made a path to the capital. The attack began at 1:30 pm and lasted till 4:00pm. After winning against America, Britain made their way to the nation’s capital at night fall. The attack on the nation’s capital lasted till 8:00pm on August 25. After this attack they headed to Baltimore. This secondary source directly relates to the primary source because the secondary source has quotes from the same soldier in the primary source. I found this very interesting when reading the secondary source that both sources would have the same British soldier telling accounts about what happened during the burning of the capital.   

Sources:      

"The British Burn Washington, DC, 1814," EyeWitness to History, eyewitnesstohistory.com (2003).  

 Greenblatt, Miriam. War of 1812. New York,NY: Facts on File, 2003. Print.